Feed apparatus



D. s SAMMIS FEED APPARATUS April 8, 1930.

Filed March 16, 1928 INVENTOR DONALD S. SAMMIS Patented Apr. 8, 193%llltl'l aliih stares PATENT QFFWE.

aren? SAMMIS, or sma'rroen ONN ASSIGNOR To HA earn BLAST conte t or NEWHAVEN, QQNNECTIGUT, a ameraman 0 sornee-ricer FEED AEPABATUESApplication filed March 16, 1328.

This invention relates to apparatus whereby finely divided material maybe fed into a conveying air current. More particularly it relates toapparatus to feed sand, for instance, from a hopper bottom to a'conduitwherein a moving column of air carries the sand to a blast room orcabinet.

Among the objects of the invention are the formation of a feed apparatusas a single, unit, the provisions of such an apparatus which may bereadily removed from and re placed in the hopper from above, and theconstruction of such an apparatus which will be readily accessible forthe removal of foreign matter or damp material when clogged therein.Gther objects will appear from the following description.

I have discovered that these objects can best be realized by means of aspecially-constructed apparatus, one form of which is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1, is a plan View of a hopper bottom to which a feed apparatusconstructed in accordance with the invention has been applied Fig. 2,is. a section on the line H ll through the hopper bottom of Figure 1,and the conveyor pipe beneath it,

Fig. 3, is an end view of Fig. 2 as seen from the right, and

Fig. 4, is a view similar to Fig. "3 showing an alternate form of theapparatus.

In the past it has been customary to convey sand, grain or otherfinely-divided material to a platform in a conveyor pipe or pneumaticconduit by means of nipples, the height of whose open ends above theplatform governs the rate of material flow. Such a construction has beensubject to serious objection, be.- cause unless the material is screenedand dried before coming to the nipples the latter are likely to becomeclogged; and in a construction including nipples having their ends dis.-pcscd above aplatform inside a tube, there is scant access for cleaningout foreign pelrticles or d-islodgi-np; moist material. Further theseold constructions did not provide for easy removal and replacement ofthe apparatus, nor has it been possible to remove and replace theapparatus through the hopper bottom which is the simplest way of doingso. Still Serial No. 262,241.

further, former constructions have, not been made unitary or as a singlecasting because it was considered more desirable to. have the distancefrom the nipples to the platform adjustable. This has resulted inobvious disad i veyor pipe. The feed plate comprises a 1101- low shaft,and platforms extending from the hollow shaft, openings being providedin the shaft above the platforms. The feed plate is constructed as aunitary whole.

In the drawings there is shown a hopper 10, having a bottom 11,immediately beneath which a conveyor pipe 12 is disposed. Projectingthrough the hopper bottom 11 and supported thereby is a sandfeed plate13, which projects into the conveyor pipe 12. The feed plate preferablyextends to the bottom of the conveyor pipe.

The feed plate comprises an upper plate 14;, one or more hollow shafts15 projecting substantially perpendicularly therefrom, and platforms 16extending in a plane substantially perpendicular to the hollow shafts.Openings 17 are provided in the hollow shafts immediately above theplatforms 16 which permit the sand (or other material) flowing from thehopper into the hollow shafts, to 1. aut m he P atf rm t i p e er d t sut-lie hsl u sha s a substantia y stream ne s c ion As i Wel nown, astream line sect on s one w ich l videa e sily gent y a bo y of fluidmot ing against it, and which permits the fluid to close together behindit without causing turnient are and su t on po kets he h fe -War sur eof c sh hah a n Whifih he uid first ha mar 11. elv n a a tormati which wl easily divid th fluid flowin against it (here it is shown as rounded)and the outer portions of each shaft these a sand blast room or cabinet.

surfaces may be formed in converging faces. See Figure 1.

The hollow shaft is open at both ends, and door 18 in the bottom of theconveyor pipe 12 closes the lower end of the hollow shaft by hearingagainst its edges when shut.

The sand feed plate may be constructed with various sizes of opening 17to control the rate of flow or to suit different types and sizes ofmaterial.

Obviously the arrangement illustrated may be varied considerably Forinstance, only one platform may be employed, as shown in Fig. 4. v

The operation (which for convenience will be described in connectionwith sand) is as follows:

With the feed apparatus arranged as described and illustrated, thehopper 10 is filled with sand. Sand will also immediately fill thehollow shafts of the feed plate, being stopped at the bottom of theshaft by the door 18. Sand from the hollow shaft will likewise flow outthrough the'openings 17 upon the platforms 16, until stopped byattaining its angle of repose upon the platforms.

A current of air flowing through the con veyor pipe 12 in the directionof the arrow 00 picks up particles of sand from the platform outside ofthe openings17 and will carry the same to any desired point: forinstance, As sand is carried away by the air current,'more sand flowsthrough the openings. Thus an even and continuous feed of sand tothe'conveyor pipe is assured so long as the current of'air continues.

If the sand in the hopper 10 is moist and tends to stick in the hollowshafts, thedoor 18 may be opened and the hollow shafts cleaned out. Ifforeign material, as core wires for instance, chokes the hollow shafts,these too may be cleaned out through the door 18.

It will be realized that, by giving the shafts the somewhat stream-lineshape illustrated, and by positioning the openings 17 in the convergingfaces of the shafts an in creased air velocity is effected at the pointwhere the inertia of the same must be overcome, thus giving a betterpickup for a given rate of flow through the conduit. Likewise thestreamline shape of the hollow shafts tends to prevent abrasion of theirlee surfaces by theair-carried sand and depositing of sand behind thehollow shafts. Further,'the feed plates, being formed in one piece, areeasily replaced after the permissive amount of wear. There is nothingadjustable about them, the size of openings being designed'forthe'particular material to be'handled. Finally, the present constructionmakes possible the removal of moist sand and foreign mat ter cloggingthe hollow shaft without tearing down the entire apparatus. Theruggedness and simplicity of the apparatus are selfevident. These, andother advantages make the present invention a very valuable advance inthe art.

Obviously the invention is not confined to the specific details ofconstruction here described and illustrated by way of example,

nor is its use confined to sand and grain.-

The apparatus is susceptible of embodiment in various modified. formswithout departing from the underlying thought of the invention..

. I claim:

1. In a feed apparatus for finely divided material, a feed platecomprising a hollow shaft, and platforms extending from said hollowshaft, there being openings in said shaft above the platforms.

2. A feed apparatus for finely divided material comprising a hopper, anda conveyor pipe beneath said hopper having an opening therein, and adoor in said conveyor pipe closing the opening, in combination with afeed plate disposed in the opening in said hopper and extending to thebottom of said conveyor pipe.

3. A feed plate for feeding a finely divided material from a hopper to aconveyor pipe, said feed plate being formed as a unitary whole andcomprising a hollow shaft having an opening therein, and a platformprojecting from said shaft below the opening.

4. A feed plate for feeding a finely divided material from a-hopper to aconveyor pipe, said feed plate being formed as a unitary whole andcomprising a hollow shaft of substantially stream line section havingopenings in the converging faces thereof, and a platform projecting fromsaid shaft below the openings.

5. A feed plate for feeding finely divided material from a hopper to aconveyor pipe, said feed plate being formed as a unitary whole andcomprising an upper plate, a hollow shaft projecting substantiallyperpendicularly therefrom having an opening therein, and a platformprojecting substantially at right angles to said shaft below theopening.

6. A feed plate for feeding finely divided material from a hopper to aconveyor pipe, said feed plate being formed as a unitary whole andcomprising an upper plate, a hollow shaft of substantially stream linesection projecting substantially perpendicularly therefrom and havingopenings in the con-- verging faces thereof, and a platform projectingsubstantially at right angles to said shaft below the opening,substantially as described. r

7. A feed apparatus for finely divided ma terial comprising a hopper,and a conveyor pipe beneath said hopper, in combination with afeed plateincluding a hollow shaft having openings therein disposed in the bottomof said hopper the hollow shaft extending to the bottom of said conveyorpipe, and a door in the bottom of said conveyor pipe closing the end ofthe hollow shaft, and adapted to give access to the same When open,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

DONALD S. SAMMIS.

